ANNOUNCEMENTS for Jan 22, 2016Epiphany III

FOOD BANK SUNDAY: January 22 is Food Bank Sunday for the month of January. We are asked to bring our offerings of non-perishable food items or consider a monetary contribution to the food bank to help meet the immediate needs of our neighbours and friends, even as we continue to address the underlying injustices that lead to long-term food insecurity. Please see here for a list of urgently needed items.

AFFIRM: Sackville United has received word that our Affirm Vision Statement has been approved by Affirm United. We can now proceed to the next step of the Affirm Process, which is to develop and Action Plan. The Executive is inviting the creation of the Circle of Service to create this plan. It is hoped that this group could have a plan ready for the AGM. If you are interested in helping with this task, please sign up on the Discernment Board.

SHARED MINISTRY GATHERING: The Elders, Craig Brett, Ed Burridge, and Elsie MacDonald would like to meet with representatives from each circle of service on January 26 at 7pm in the sanctuary. Representatives from the following are invited: Worship , Outreach, Property, Drama Production, Book Study, Affirm, Prayer Circle, Sunday School, Pastoral Care, Fundraisers, Wednesday coffee, etc. At this gathering, we will review and celebrate what has been done through the year, assess the needs for ongoing Circles of Service, and encourage people to serve in various areas. If you are interested in being involved with any circle or establishing a new circle, feel free to attend. All are welcome.

UCW Meeting: The next SUC UCW meeting will be on Monday Jan. 23rd at 12:30 p.m. – all ladies of the Pastoral Charge are welcome to attend.

Some Sound (and visual) Advice: If you would like to learn how to use the sound board at the back of the church or to get involved with the words on the screen for Sunday worship, please sign up on the Discernment Board. Craig is willing to help show you the ropes (and buttons).

Would Someone You Know Appreciate a Pastoral Care Visit?: Pastoral care for SPC is generously being provided by Rev. Jean Ward. For any pastoral care needs, or if you know someone who might appreciate a visit, please contact Rev. Ward directly – 902-694-4372 or a.jean.ward@gmail.com

UCW COLLECTING SMALL ITEMS TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE: UCW continues to save the following items: Independent Grocery Tapes, pop tabs, plastic bread tabs, used postage stamps (1/4″ border), Campbell’s Soup Labels, the front cover of used Greeting Cards. All items can be left in the basket which is on the book shelf as you come in the main entrance of the church.

CENTERING PRAYER: Centering prayer group meets every Monday; all are welcome to join for one half hour of prayer together.

Hymns:

Quotations to Ponder

The trouble with deep belief is that it costs something. And there is something inside of me, some selfish beast of a subtle thing that doesn’t like the truth of it all because it carries responsibility, and if I actually believe these things I have to do something about them. It is so cumbersome to believe anything. And it isn’t cool.~Donald Miller from Blue Lake Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality.

The problem that we are facing in the church today is that we have so many Christians who have made a decision to believe in Jesus, but not a commitment to follow him. We have people who are planning to, meaning to, trying to, wanting to, going to, we just don’t have people who are doing it.~Tyler Edwards from Zombie Church: Breathing Life Back into the Body of Christ.

I am an average good Christian, when you don’t push my Christianity too far. And all the rest of you—which is a great comfort—are, in this respect, much the same as I am.~Wilkie Collins from The Moonstone.

A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things. ~Barak Obama.

Jordan Cantwell Speaks Out:

…As the President-elect of the United States prepares for his inauguration on Friday I need to say, “I love Donald Trump.” Those words are very hard for me to say, but I am striving to genuinely feel them in my heart. Although I have serious misgivings about his policies and pronouncements, he is a child of God, just like me, so I must treat him with dignity, respect, and love…

… Many people in both Canada and the United States are experiencing extreme levels of fear and anxiety right now, sparked in large part by the rhetoric and behaviour of the President-elect as well as the political records of some of his recent appointees. Members of vulnerable minority communities are worried that their rights and safety are in jeopardy. This affects all of us, for the health of any society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members…

… We need to be alert to all efforts on the part of any of our leaders to use fear as a tool to divide and control people. Whenever fear becomes the dominant force in our lives, it inevitably leads either to hatred and exclusion or to despair and apathy. We cannot afford to go in either of these directions. So let us draw on the deepest resources of our faith to choose instead an alternative that is stronger than fear, hate, or despair—love…

… Let us stand together to protect the vulnerable and challenge hate wherever we encounter it—including in ourselves. Yes, we will forcefully resist any efforts to strip people of their dignity and rights—but the force we will use is love.

Choosing to love even those whose words and actions are filled with hate and division does not mean accepting their behaviour or tolerating injustice. Love does not turn a blind eye to injustice or a deaf ear to the cries of the oppressed. The love that we are called to embody as followers of Christ demands that we defend the dignity and worth, the well-being and integrity of everyone—including the oppressors….

…The question I am asking myself today is “How can I be a minister of reconciliation in these fractured times?” It’s a question that I challenge you to think about as well.